Distributed database management systems may include a number of databases which collectively manage a collection of data. The collection may, for example, comprise a table which for various reasons, such as space or processing efficiency, has been split into multiple partitions, wherein each partition is maintained by at least one of the databases. In some cases, a given partition may be replicated across multiple databases so that queries pertaining to a particular partition may be processed by one of the replicated databases.
In some cases, a database may maintain a partition using a different structure than is employed by other partitions. For example, a database maintaining a first partition may use a local index pertaining only to that partition, and which may not exist for other partitions, or for replicas of partitions.